Well, that's all, folks. I am done with my freshman year of college, and I am still unable to fathom how quickly the year went by! Goodbyes were said, tears were shed, and now I am staring at a million evil boxes that are waiting to be unpacked. In the process of getting my room at home organized so that it's actually somewhat inhabitable, I've been going through various mementos from my years in high school. What was particularly funny was looking back through all my yearbooks and realizing how different my life is from even just a year ago, when I was finishing up my senior year. So what is it like to be out of high school for a year, you ask? It's a strange feeling that I don't think I have fully come to understand.

For just having graduated a year ago, it's very strange how my high school years are already becoming a blur. Many people describe high school as being the best and most memorable years of your life. For many including myself though, high school was not the ideal of picture of fun; in fact, it was be downright terrible at times. My biggest frustration with high school was that people were entirely too self-interested and not focused on their future aspirations. While I was definitely respected by my peers and had many friends, I still absolutely hated the thought of cliques. I never understood the idea of conforming just to fit in with the people who share the same dull, constructed personality. I don't think I could've chosen a better or more appropriate quote to go under my picture in my senior yearbook than this one:

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

To this very day, I try to live up to the sentiments behind that quote, but it wasn't until I completed my first year of college that I fully learned just how significant this quote is. College, I've learned, is the place where you thrive because of your uniqueness and creativity. It's not like that in what are oftentimes the cruel hallways of high school. In hindsight, I don't know where I would be now if I actually was popular in high school. If I did conform, I would've been perfectly content with where I was in my life, and I never would have made a point to achieve my dreams. In fact, I think the reason why I have had such a fairytale college experience is because I didn't embrace the clique scene in high school.

So, here is my one piece of advice to all of my readers who are still in high school feeling like they are losing the battle to the cliques and drama: keep holding on and dare to be different. It's hard, I know. But, you know what? It gets better. You're going to love college, and if me telling you this doesn't convince you of that very fact, check out this sick playlist that I believe describes what you're feeling right now: